The beat of his heart quickens and pounds louder and louder in his ears. Beads of sweat drip down his face as he glances towards the crowd; some cheer, while others glare. He grips the bat tighter and clenches his jaw. When he tracks down the pitch, he swings with all of his might and hopes that this hit will be a homerun. Matt Goldberg, age fifty-four, knows much about this type of lifestyle. However, he is not the athlete stepping up to plate… He is the one writing about it.

An avid sports fan and writer, Goldberg contributes to the sports world as an author, blogger, public speaker, columnist, coach and enthusiast. He has written over three hundred sports columns and actively writes sports articles on websites such as bleacherreport.com, philly2philly.com and his own website tipofthegoldberg.com.

Goldberg specifically loves Philadelphia teams and has been a fanatic for as long as he can remember.

“I’ve been a diehard fan [since] I was about six or seven years old” said Goldberg.

He has two older brothers who are also into Philadelphia sports, but he says that he has always been the biggest fan of the three. Goldberg also goes beyond the average fan that only roots for their team; he defends them too.

As a co-writer of the book “A Snowball’s Chance,” Goldberg defends Philadelphia teams from the national media. This book focuses on the harsh critique of Philly fans and how these fans are getting back at those who shot them down.

“We wanted to get back at the national media because Philly fans get skewered,” said Goldberg about his book.

The book includes chapters such as “Philly Fans Boo Anything and Everything,” “Philly Fans Have No Class” and “Philly Fans Mistreat Their Own Superstars”.

“We’re definitely no angels in Philly, but ‘A Snowball’s Chance’ will absolutely shed some much needed positive light on perhaps the most notorious and unfairly maligned fan base on the planet,” wrote the philly2philly.com team on the back of the book.

Although his book has not quite met the number of sold copies expected, it has been getting the appreciation it deserves. The team of writers, Joe Vallee, Ryan Downs, Billy Vargus, Dennis Bakay, Brad Lidge and Goldberg, have been on multiple sports talk radios, have made television appearances and even participated in a game show called “Philly Feud”, based off of the hit show Family Feud. Recently, Goldberg gave a presentation on his book at the Katz JCC for the Cherry Hill community.

As a practicing Jew, Goldberg incorporates his religion into his sports writings. He was the former Head Featured Columnist at jewocity.com and wrote a daily column called Bagels and Jocks (a spinoff of the Jewish combination bagels and lox). Goldberg describes his work as having an indefinable Jewish humor and likes to integrate his humor into his writing. Recently, he gave a presentation on his book at the Katz JCC for the Cherry Hill community.

“Andy Reid, is he still coaching the Eagles this year?” said Goldberg to his audience at the JCC, who chuckled at his comical remark.

On the other hand, Goldberg’s humorous side is just one aspect of his work.

“I am actually an extremely serious person” admitted Goldberg, the guy known to most as a comedian.

Goldberg has been writing about famous athletes, stories and controversies for a long time. For this period of time, it was all of these athletes, topics and controversies that were in the spotlight. Now it is his time to shine.

Goldberg steps up to the desk; his hands are shaking. His heart pounds loudly and the noise echoes in his ears. Beads of sweat trickle down his face as he takes a seat. He grips the pen in his hand tighter and clenches his fist. When the idea comes, he begins writing with all of his might and hopes that this next story will be a homerun.